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Posted By: Doug Scott treated lumber - 05/13/04 12:38 PM
Has anyone had a problem with their electrical equipment or mounting screws deteriorating after time from the chemicals in the wood?
There are a few juridictions around Michigan that state we need some sort of spacer between the equipment and the wood, and use stainless steel screws.
Is there a code or UL listing out there on this?
Doug
Posted By: stamcon Re: treated lumber - 05/13/04 02:26 PM
Doug, here is a link to Simpson, regarding corrosion with the new wood treatments. http://www.strongtie.com/productuse/corrosion.html?source=hppromo
Posted By: Kobuchi Re: treated lumber - 05/13/04 07:47 PM
The problem is the copper used to treat the wood causes galvanic corrosion in dissimilar metals.

Ranked by similarity:

Graphite
Platinum
Titanium
Austenitic Stainless (passive i.e. with protective film)
Chromium Steels (11-30% Cr) (passive)
Silver
Inconel (80% Ni, 13% Cr, 6.5% Fe)
Nickel and High Nickel Alloys
Monel (67% Ni, 30% Cu)
Bronze, Gunmetal
Copper
Alpha Brass (70% Cu, 30% Zn)
Naval Brass (60% Cu, 40% Zn)
Tin
Lead
Austenitic Stainless (active i.e. protective film removed)
High Nickel Cast Iron
Chromium Steels (active)
Cast Iron
Mild Steel
Aluminium Alloys
Cadmium
Aluminium
Zinc
Magnesium

From http://www.reliability.com/articles/guest_article03.htm

Note copper and zinc ("galvanized" or "plated") are quite far apart on the table.

I'm pretty sure the newer wood treatment (which is rusty in colour) contains no copper.
Posted By: stamcon Re: treated lumber - 05/14/04 05:42 AM
You can't go by the color of the wood. It can still be green and be treated with a newer preservative.
Posted By: Kobuchi Re: treated lumber - 05/14/04 07:31 AM
You're right. And moreover - according to StrongTie - most of the newer treatments do contain copper.

Their advice basically comes down to using heavy duty zinc fasteners and fixtures, which will react just as much with the copper as lighter coatings, but take longer to show it.

But we're interested in enclosures not coated structural brackets sold by StrongTie. A plastic box secured with SS screws will do.
Posted By: Trumpy Re: treated lumber - 05/14/04 07:39 AM
Doug S,
I come from New Zealand and Tanalised (treated) Timber for house construction was banned for use, back in the 1990's.
For the simple reason, it kills Fire-fighters that extinguish houses, made of this material.
As Kobuchi posted above, there are a lot of nasty chemicals in that timber, which only release when the timber catches fire and burns.
I'm not talking about Inhalation of the smoke, it's caused by penetration through the small areas of exposed skin that a FF has in a fire.
I hate the stuff!. [Linked Image]
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